


What They'll Never Take From You (Release the Doves, Surrender Love)

by Morrigan_Healy



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 21:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morrigan_Healy/pseuds/Morrigan_Healy
Summary: Party Phoenix (my friend Amanda) joins in this tale - soon enough everyone'll be together.





	1. Chapter 1

The desert and its zones are mean, unforgiving. One night in its cool, subhuman temperatures can give way to scorching mornings; punctuated only by fading static and lit ablaze by raygun fire. It's life or death between the dracs and the scarecrows, colors dashing in the night that'll never quite, no matter what the danger. And if they want to take your mask?

They'll have to pry it from your cold dead hands.

*Kaydemari's POV*

I was maybe twelve or thirteen when my parents abandoned my brother and I for Battery City. Actually, before this whole thing had started, we'd been living on the edge of the Nevada cities, houses and life on one side, desert and open space on the other. It was weird, but we had no idea that by 2019 the entire landscape would be desert and the one safe place just out of our reach.

I don't even remember how the BL/ind. bastards even managed to destroy everything we'd loved in the first place. One day it was daring each other to go play in the desert, to stab cacti and bring back the juice and pretend to make cocktails for fun, the next it was getting that juice because your life depended on it.

It's not like we wanted the changes, but it was weird...the changes were...a welcome thing. My friends and I had all gotten used to our idea of 'living on the edge' so it was nice to have something really...altering happen for once.

I just remember the old 'gear stores', ones my older brother William would often go to with his friends, Tony, Jared and Rick, insisting there were things we had to prep for (we all thought he was crazy, with all the zombie talk, but hey, it's hard to talk a teenage boy out of end of the world plans). Once or twice I'd gone with them, and my face would end up pressed against the display cases where the most amazing masks were held.

I used to wonder why we'd ever need masks for this 'end of the world' thing, but like all good superheroes, my brother had said, one needs a mask to guard their identities. At that moment, I had decided I would join these ranks of superheroes and get myself a mask.

This of course, ended with me clinging to the case in which sat the prettiest mask I'd ever laid eyes on.

It had a white base, with two silver stars on the cheek parts of it, and then a grey full moon on the forehead part, with sky blue clouds on either side of the moon with black script-like detailing around the stars.

"But can't I please please please get it? I've got enough money in the shoebox under my bed!" I'd pleaded, turning to see my brother and his friends on their way out of the store, William calling over his shoulder for me to come along.

I knew I had to get that mask someday. I just had to.

About two weeks from the day I'd first seen the mask, I woke up to a note on the kitchen table, it was from my parents.

Dear Will and Kay -

We're sorry to leave so abruptly like this, but we know you're better off on your own. Everyone's been talking about that new city, Battery City, that it's the epitome of technology, the future of the world...we're going to check it out, and we don't know if we'll be back. You two are old enough to handle yourselves; it's about time your got thrown into the real world. We'll try to write from time to time, but we can't promise anything. Good luck and here's to the future.

At the end of the note was my father's signature. I had always been more of a girly girl than a tomboy, so I was closer to my mother; in fact, there was just something that had bugged me about my father. Don't get me wrong, I loved him, but - he just made it seem like he didn't want me around, and he'd clearly picked William as his favorite. I look back now and wonder how I never resented my brother for being 'the favorite' between the two of us. Perhaps it's because he was first-born, and that was the way things worked and I just went with it. Or maybe it was I was too young to care in the first place.

As soon as I had finished reading the note, I'd walked into the living room, where William and two of his friends were playing video games. They didn't seem to notice me until I said how I could probably beat all three of them at said game - a wager they gladly accepted, expecting me to lose. To make things a little more worthwhile, I'd said that if I won, they would have to buy me the mask I'd seen weeks before. If I lost, I had to do all the dishes and laundry for the next month.

Coming as a shock to them and no surprise to me twenty minutes later, I set the controller down and smiled.

"You just got your ass kicked by a girl...in Nazi Zombies. And she's younger than you. Dude, you need-" Tony had started, before William picked up a nearby decorative pillow and threw it at him, "Yeah, so maybe I let her win. She beat you, too. The bet was for all three of us, and she proved she's the better player. Now come on, let's go get her the mask so she stops bragging about it."

The minute we walked out of the store, I put the mask on (after tying my hair up into a messy ponytail) and turned to my brother and his friends.

"You sure you should bet getting her into this this early, Will?" Tony asked, Jared nodding in agreement.

"It can't hurt...she should probably get used to wearing it, seeing as things are already starting to change..."

My eyes widened, and I looked between the group, confused.

"Your parents leave too?" Jared asked, voice suddenly hushed, even though there was no-one around that could remotely hear us.

"Last night, or this morning, I don't know which, but they're gone."

"For-" Tony continued.

"Battery City. Insisting it's to a 'better future'." My brother's voice had changed, there was an undertone of sarcasm and disgust I'd never heard from him before in it.

"Ooohhh boy...have you- the names...when everything goes down, we want to be set. We don't know how long it'll take, but let's be ready." Jared said.

I was still thoroughly confused.

"Agreed, I've already got mine. Caffeine Kerosene. You guys?" William said, managing a smile at the new 'name' or whatever it is he'd said.

"I can't decide...it's between Weeping Rage and Derailed Vanity..." Jared supplied, earning a strange look from me. Just what were they talking about?

"Forlorn Narcotic." Tony said, causing Jared to snort almost immediately, "Oh, wait 'til you get ahold of some - they're addicting."

"Says the guy who watches 'House M.D.' for hours at a time, huh, judgemental, are we?" I added, reminding the boys I was still here.

"Oh. Uh, Will, you should take her home...we'll do a conference call tonight to go over everything? You know, just...to be...prepared?"

My brother nodded, motioning towards our bikes. My parents had cars, but even though William could drive he just liked his bike better, said it was better because it was more of a workout.

"Bye guys! Anytime you want to get beat by a girl, you know who to call!" I yelled towards Tony and Jared as we headed home.

They laughed, and that sound is one of my happier memories of better times.

That night, after William had come upstairs to finally go to bed, after being on the phone for almost two hours with Tony and Jared, I called him into my room, intending to talk to him.

"What is it, Kay?" he asked, sitting on the edge of my bed. I smiled slightly, although the reality had hit me that our parents were gone and very possibly weren't ever coming back.

"I...I'm so confused, Will...first mom and dad leave without warning-"

"Oh, they'd been talking about Battery City for a while now, they just didn't allow you to hear any of it," he said, ruffling my hair.

"But I don't- I mean, why'd they- why didn't they take us with them?" I fumbled for words, lost.

He smiled sadly and sighed, as though he'd been expecting this conversation.

"It's the movement...Rick told me about it first when his parents moved, and then Jared's...I don't know why, but if you have kids that are at least teenagers, it's apparently okay to up and leave for Battery City. Like they're gathering...I get the feeling they didn't want to take us, every time I tried to talk to dad about it, he'd just-"

"Just what?!" I pressed.

"He'd...he'd shut down...wouldn't talk about it anymore, and mom always looked like she was ready to cry. I don't understand it either, I just hope that wish of mine comes true."

"Not that wish again." I sighed, having heard this story one too many times. "And what did you guys mean by names?" I brought up quickly, hoping to change the subject.

"Oh, the names? Remember that 'superhero game' I used to tell you about? How you needed a name? That's what the boys and I are playing...in order to find out everything with Battery City and all...when you're around the boys and I, I'll let you use it, okay? And as long as we're playing this game, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright? You're my baby sister, I'd feel terrible if...well, some things are better left unsaid."

"But what could happen? And...wait, what's your name again?"

"Huh? Oh," William started, apparently having drifted into his thoughts, "It's Caffeine Kerosene."

"Caffeine Kerosene?" I tried, the 'name' sounding weird on my tongue.

William nodded, "And now that you have a mask, you need your own name. Any ideas?"

I gawked, great now I was part of their stupid little prep-for-the-end-of-the-world thing.

"Well, the wish...you said you wished on a star the night I was born, so...Star Fall. That doesn't sound stupid or girly, does it? I don't want your friends to make fun of me..."

He laughed, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"Kay, that sounds great. Now, you've put your mask in a safe place, right? I want you to always know where it is."

I nodded, "It's sitting on my dresser...you can see it." And as if to test that, he turned at looked, getting up to pick up the mask, his fingers tracing the black script-ish detailing.

"Star Fall," he murmured, almost too quiet for me to hear, "Oh how you're growing up."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party Phoenix (my friend Amanda) joins in this tale - soon enough everyone'll be together.

~Nix POV~

I remember the day and the events leading up to it all too well. It was the summer of 2016 that my friends and I graduated Los Angeles High School. We were as tight as tight could be because everyone else were stereotypical, poster children for Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister. How were we different? Well we were what those kids called the "emos." Simply because we loved rock music, wore grunge clothing, aced all the music and art classes and loved to write stories and poetry. I mean, we thought we were as normal as normal could be, just that we liked to express ourselves more so than anyone else who expressed themselves through excessive shopping and mommy and daddy's upper west side parties. Anyways.

My last memory with them was a late night bonfire in my backyard that we kept under wraps because, even though we all lived in the LA suburbs, due to high population, bonfires were illegal. We all sat around shooting the shit and reminiscing on memories from when we were little, smiling as we made s'mores and laughed along with each other. My best friends, Mitzy, Julie and Toby, and I all grew up together since elementary school. Nothing could break us apart. We treasured that night as if it were our last since the four of us were going our separate ways for college in different cities. Mitzy got out her Polaroid camera and took 4 identical pictures of us all together as a group so we would save this moment forever as we parted ways temporarily for higher education and other life pursuits. Little did we know, that was the last night that we were together; the last night either of us heard from each other again. Mitzy went to a photography art school in Nevada, Julie went to some sort of four-year university in Seattle, Washington for journalism, and Toby went to Arizona to pursue an offer from some obscure record label that none of us ever heard of before in hopes to start up a music career with him and his guitar.

They all moved out and left that following morning. That's when the nightmares began. Out of respect, I gave the three of them their space to get all moved in and settled so I didn't bother to text or call them. I waited a week. That week turned into two; that two turning into three; that three weeks turning into three years. For it was now 2019 and nobody heard from Mitzy, Julie or Toby. They went missing. This devastated me every single day and haunted my dreams of what could've happened to them. Throughout those three years, however, there was this new corporation popping up here and there, wherever I went: Better Living Industries, or BL/ind. At first I thought it was some new fad for modern living, but then I realized that it was something more, something evil. My friends weren't the only ones that went missing over time. The mission persons rates went up drastically ever since they came around, but no one paid much attention and BL/ind did a pretty good job on covering it up all over the media waves. There was no doubt in my mind that they were the reason my friends went missing.

Finally, it was another scorching hot day in LA where if you cracked an egg on the sidewalk, you could easily fry it. BL/ind was everywhere this particular day. Literally, everywhere to the point where I saw people in white biohazard suits combing the streets. Looking down from my 3rd floor apartment window, they were moving around pretty sporadically, fancy-looking guns in their hands, urging people in different directions. I had no idea what was going on but it scared me. I turned on the TV for the hell of it, even though I knew that BL/ind had completely taken over the media now, just to see what was going on. I saw an Asian anchorwoman spewing some nonsense in Japanese, which I say nonsense because I couldn't speak Japanese so I had no idea what she was saying. But then the TV went black and all power was lost in my apartment. Everything was eerily quiet. I felt some trembling under my feet and I immediately thought that an earthquake was rolling through. I grabbed my army messenger bag and ran around my house grabbing essential stuff for the time being, since I was going to head to ground level so I didn't get hurt. A couple cans of ravioli, a bottle of water, my cell phone, e-cigs, and of course, my beloved picture of my friends and I. Although I didn't want to put it in my bag, instead I stuffed it in my shirt and in my bra, close to my heart. I ran out my door and I started to run down the staircase when the trembling became greater and before I knew it, the building was collapsing all around me. The way it was collapsing, I knew immediately that this wasn't an earthquake, it had to have been more like an explosion or something from the sky. But that was the last thing I remember because a piece of stairs fell from above me, hit me in the head and I blacked out.

When I came to, I didn't know where I was. I looked around and I was in an all white bedroom. Everything in the damn room was white, not a spec of color anywhere except my dirt and debris covered clothes. I examined myself frantically and I was the same as I was before I was knocked unconscious. I looked down my shirt and the Polaroid picture was still in my bra. Thank God. I got up off the bed, not caring that dirt gave the room some color. I opened the white-painted wooden door and into a living room, again, all white. I saw two people sitting and staring at a TV screen with that same Japanese woman talking in her native language. It took a minute, but then I realized who those people were.

"Mom...? Dad...?" I said certain, but uncertain. The two turned around and looked at me with distant eyes. They were my mom and dad...but emotionless.

"Hello there, ***** insert censor here because my real name doesn't matter anymore, just call me Nix. Did you have a nice nap?" my mom asked me in a monotone voice. I looked at her confused. This wasn't my mom. Well, yes it was, but she was changed mentally. She lacked emotion. Same with my dad. They were just brainwashed shells.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on here? Where am I?" I asked.

"This is our home, [Nix.] Our new home that Better Living gave us. Here, take this." my dad said as he handed me what looked like a technologically advanced iPad. I looked at it and, of course, BL/ind was printed all over it. I tapped on the screen and it recognized my fingerprint and read out my full name along with a picture of my face. It then gave me options on how I want to live. What? Confused, I tapped the options menu and it gave me a list of emotions I wanted to delete. Memories I wanted to delete. And then with whatever option I picked, they would dispense a pill in this fancy looking vending machine in the house and all I would have to do is take it and it'd be gone. There were captions saying, "Eradicate fear." "The aftermath is secondary." How did they know all this stuff about me? I was scrolling through the pieces of me when I came across a huge section on Mitzy, Julie and Toby. It said that it was highly suggested that I delete this portion of my mind in order for a better lifestyle. That's when I lost it and threw the tablet against the wall, it shattering into a million pieces. My parents gasped robotically and my mother spoke up.

"They aren't going to like this..." I clung to my messenger bag and found the front door and ran outside. I froze at what I saw. I wasn't in Los Angeles anymore. Well, I was, but it was transformed into what looked like a mini-Tokyo. It was very industrialized and BL/ind people walked along with the regular crowds of people. Everyone looked so...bored. Emotionless. I saw a huge electronic billboard that read, "Welcome to Battery City. The City of Better Living. The aftermath is secondary." Battery City...? I was so confused. I needed a guide or a map or something. What the hell happened here?

I walked up and down the streets and came across a magazine stand. A man handed me a newspaper, "Battery City Times" and I stood and read the front page. It had a brief description of how the apocalypse came and gone and now Battery City is one of the very few cities left in the world. Everywhere else was a barren, desert wasteland overrun by bandits and outlaws that had to be exterminated for they were trying to disrupt "our better living." I shoved the paper in my bag and continued down the street. People looked at me with distant glares, some looked at me like I was crazy, as if I didn't fit in with their kind. Well, nothing new there since I pretty much grew up that way. I shrugged them off and kept walking. It wasn't until I felt an odd presence, almost stalking me. I discreetly looked behind me to see one of those white suited BL/ind guys following me about 10 feet behind me.

"Dammit..." I muttered under my breath, then suddenly I took off running. I had no idea where I was going, but I had to get him off my tail. I rounded a couple corners, accidentally shoved some people out of the way, and then finally I saw a narrow alleyway. I did a forward barrel roll into it and hid behind a dumpster. I waited a while and it was safe to say he was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly someone pulled me to my feet and had me pinned up against the brick building wall with the barrel of a gun pointed up under my jaw.

"What the fuc-"

"Quiet! They'll hear us!" the person, who I identified as a guy around my age based on voice, said sharply to me. The majority of his face was covered with a yellow bandanna, he had jet black hair and wore combat padded clothing. He wore a vest over it and spray painted on each sleeve said the phrase, 'KEEP RUNNING' "Are you a Killjoy?"

"A what?" I whispered back frantically.

"A Killjoy! You mean you're not a part of BL/ind but you're not a Killjoy either? You must've just woken up! Come with me if you want to live." the guy lowered his gun from my throat and turned to start running down the alley, but not before he turned back to me and said, "Oh and not this kind of living. The real kind."

I followed him down the darkened alley when we reached a sewer grate. He lifted it up with ease and ushered me down it. I didn't really hesitate considering he had a gun in his hands, and who knows what else he had concealed under his clothing. We climbed down a sticky ladder and landed on the ground with a disgusting "slosh." He led the way through the sewer tunnels, I couldn't help but notice various graffiti on the sewer walls. Some were the same thing over and over again: "KEEP RUNNING", "LOOK ALIVE, SUNSHINE", "fABULOUS KILLJOYS UNITE!" I wasn't sure what it all meant, but it reminded me some sort of rebel cult work against BL/ind...and I liked it.

We walked through the crappy sewage, no pun intended, for what seemed like forever. The stink started to get really fowl and the heat levels raised tremendously.

"Um...where are we going?" I asked, "It's getting rather hot and steamy in here." The guy just chuckled and kept on walking. I didn't find it very funny. "Hey! What's so funny! Where are we going?"

"Shh! Quiet! You don't want to alert the Dracs." he said.

"The what?"

"Dracs. You don't know what those are either? Damn, you really need to look alive, sunshine." he tsked. At this point the heat was unbearable and I was breaking a pretty good sweat. We saw a light at the end of the tunnel and he motioned toward it, and then took off running. How in the hell was he able to run and stand the heat without breaking a sweat? Nonetheless, I ran after him and eventually we came out in a scorching, heat-wave of a barren desert. I was panting and I remembered that I had a water bottle in my bag. I started to fumble for it when the guy stopped me.

"We don't have time for that. We're in a very vulnerable spot right now. I promise I'll buy you something to drink when we get to the safehouse. Your water is probably piss warm anyways."

I was kind of appalled with this guy already, but his intentions seemed good so I went along with it. He drew his fancy looking handgun out and kept it aimed and ready. We walked swiftly through the blazing desert heat, ducking and diving amongst sand dunes and loose tumbleweed brush. Then ahead of us we saw what looked like a hollowed out, small one level motel that couldn't have had more than 10 rooms. I say motel because there was a sand-blasted, worn out motel sign with the letter "m" missing. He grabbed my arm and held me close to his side as we approached the wasted building. We walked a couple more feet and suddenly, from all of the windows appeared people of all sizes who looked similar in clothing, gear and guns like the guy I was with. They all had their guns pointed at us.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3  
"Killjoy: Desert Rebel!" the guy called to them, "Look alive! This one just woke up!"

All of the people then lowered their guns, some remained aimed but they aimed elsewhere in a defensive manner. The guy turned to me, "Come on, hurry with me." Still hanging onto my arm, we ran into the dusty structure and when we walked through the door, we were in a small motel lobby. It was obviously put together by these people because it reminded me of a makeshift convenience mart/pawn shop. There were broken down couches scattered around, posters and newspapers lined the walls. Some walls were knocked out to make the lobby bigger. There were some surplus shelves with various equipment, gear, canned food with the notorious "Bli" logo plastered on all of them. There were also some glass cases that contained items of higher volume. There were those fancy looking guns in some of them, fancy looking masks that reminded me of theatrical masks, some small jewelry, and other assorted things.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"This is the Motel Safehouse for Killjoys. It's the biggest one around for miles. We're also the closest to the city so we can snag up civilians like you who just woke up before you get sucked into Bli's "better living." the guy said to me. He pointed to a dusty couch and motioned for me to sit down. I did, not caring about the huge plume of dust and dirt that came out of it when I did. He then walked over to the counter with an older, middle aged man standing behind it.

"Hey, Old Man. How about a water for our new friend over there?" he said to him. The guy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey little shit, how about you show some respect for your elders and you might get somewhere in life out here?" He then reached behind him in a cooler and pulled out a water bottle. "Whatcha got for it? No free handouts here, you know that." The kid tsked and dug around in his pockets and pulled out a plain, black mask and handed it to the guy.

"My mask. I don't want it anymore. I like concealing with my bandana. I even cut little slits for the eyes in case I want it over my whole face." The guy scrutinized him, but then took the mask and put in down in the glass case and then handed him the water bottle. "Thanks." He then came and pulled up a lawn chair and sat across from me. He handed me the bottle and I couldn't help but chug it down. When I was done, I looked across at him, his brown eyes staring at me intensely over the yellow, worn bandana.

"So what's this all about, anyways? What's going on?" I asked him. He leaned back and folded his arms and took in a long breath.

"We call ourselves the Killjoys. There are many of us out here and we live in the desert. We are the life of what has come of this world. The apocalypse wiped out the planet and there's only a few of these major cities left in the world, Battery City being one of them. Bli, or "Better Living Industries," started their take over discreetly about 4 years ago, implementing their ways of better living into the everyday things we already do. And of course, they needed workers for their industry in order to make this work. That's why the missing persons rate skyrocketed over the past 4 years." My eyes widened. My friends.

"My three best friends all went missing three years ago... I've been trying to find them ever since. They went missing without a trace. Do you think Bli took them?!"

"It's very possible that that's what happened. I'm almost 99% certain that they probably scooped them up for their own recruitment purposes. I'm sorry for your loss." he said.

"No, I need to find them! I'm not going to stop until I find them or get some sort of answer as to what happened. Could they possibly be out here in the desert as a Killjoy?!"

The guy shook his head, "No. Not at all. If they've been missing for as long as you said they have been, then there's no way. Bli would've had them too far in their clutches for escape. If they did, it's some sort of miracle that they did. But it's not likely at all. Again, I'm sorry for your loss. But the future is now. You need to survive for yourself and join the fight to overthrow Bli." He stood up and looked me up and down.

"You need to ditch those old clothes of yours too. You kinda stick out like a sore thumb in that get up."

"What? How?" I asked confused, looking down at my dirty Converse, faded denim blue skinny jeans, Guns & Roses t-shirt and my olive drab army bag. The guy chuckled at me.

"You look like you just woke up, which you kinda just did since you had no idea about anything. Here, let's get you suited up..."

"DRACS! FROM THE FRONT! 'BOUT A HANDFUL!" a girl shouted from outside. Everyone drew out their fancy guns, which I still had no idea what those were still, and started for the doors and windows.

"What's going on?" I asked frantically. The guy looked at me almost apologetically,

"Dracs are here. I suggest you take cover in one of our rooms until we ghost them. If it's been too long, just start running and don't stop. You'll come across other Killjoys and their safe houses in the desert. The world is one big hideout, you'll make it and be reborn again. I can sense it. You'll go far in life. I'm sorry I couldn't explain more to you."

He cocked his gun and dashed out the front door. I was curious and I crawled over to one of the windows and peeked out. It was scary: Bli suited guys were coming at us shooting anything and everything in sight. They were in the all-white bio-suits and their faces...looked like they were wearing masks. It resembled a pale white gorilla, only with no fur. The mouths had fangs with blood dripping from them, eyes black as night as well as messy and matted jet-black hair. I really didn't want to mess with those. I kept low for bullets were flying everywhere. Although they didn't look like regular bullets, they were more like rays of light. Either way, they were causing destruction and I didn't want to get hit.

I crawled behind the glass counter that Old Man was sitting behind and I tried to open the case because I saw that there were guns in there and I'd probably need one for my protection. But to my dismay, it was locked. But then suddenly, all the glass shattered and cascaded around me and I dropped to the ground trying to stifle a scream. I wasn't hit but a bullet found its way into the motel and hit the glass. I took this opportunity and grabbed a gun that was all red with the exception of an orange trigger and some various orange stripes and splatters all over it. On the handle that drawled up the side was written in yellow, "Desert Eagle." I immediately liked it. It went with my hair and plus I was a fan of the Desert Eagle handguns from the '90's. I kept it close to me and crawled over to a door that looked like it lead to a hallway with those few rooms I saw the windows from the outside.

I went all the way down the hallway and to the farthest room away from everything. I got up to just a crouch and I tried the door and it opened to a very small room with a broken down bed, handheld walkie-talkie radio and a dresser that was on a huge slant because it was missing a leg. I crouched over to the bed and pulled off the top sheet and I laid down on the floor and pulled it completely over me. I laid as still as possible and pressed my left ear to the ground. I could hear the scuffles and stomps of the fight pounding through the ground. Sometimes I heard some larger thumps and I just knew that had to have been a body. I only heard a couple of those, but then they started to get more frequent. I was scared. I didn't want them to find me. I didn't want to die. I just laid still until this passed. Until I heard that guy tell me that everything was alright.

I waited and waited, nothing. The scuffles and stomps soon faded and then all was quiet. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. The desert ground felt significantly cooler so the sun had to have been setting. I waited just a little longer before peeking my head out from underneath the sheet. There were bullet holes everywhere, especially through the walls. I quietly got up and kept my gun ready. I leaned against the doorframe, gun cocked and ready to go, and then I flung myself out into the hallway, aiming down it. But there was no one there. I walked stealthily, looking in and out of each room. They were all empty. I opened the door to the main lobby and everything went to all hell. Everything was shot to pieces, equipment, gear and supplies everywhere, some of which was covered by the dusty ground.

"Hey...anyone here?" I spoke softly, "Kid? Old Man?"

There was no answer or any sign of life anywhere. I walked over to the broken down industrial shelving and picked up some black pants off the floor. I changed into those and left my jeans on the ground in its place. I kicked away some more dust and found knee pads and put those on over my pants. There was a spandex, Under Armour-type tank top as well and I slipped off my beloved Guns & Roses t-shirt and put on the tank top instead. It showed off my large tribal tattoo nicely that covered my entire right shoulder. I kept my black hoodie on since that seemed to go along with the whole black theme. I ditched my now uncomfortable Converse and dug around for the other combat boot to go with the one that still laid on the shelve. I found it, checked them both for any critters that may have been in them, and strapped those on. I walked back over to the remains of the glass case and picked up some desert, clear-lensed goggles and put those around my neck and then shifted them up onto the top of my head. I put my army bag back over my shoulder and carefully headed outside and I was greeted by a troublesome sight: Body bags.

White, BL/ind body bags everywhere with no living sign of the Killjoys. I kept my gun aimed in all directions as I trotted over to one and unzipped it partially. Inside was Old Man. Dead. I went over to another one and unzipped it partially as well, it was that guy who helped me out and got me out of Battery City. I couldn't help but shed a tear for everyone, especially that guy. I think I cried a little harder for him more than anything. I knelt down by his corpse and placed a hand on the bag and sobbed. My tears hit the bag and I wished that he was still here. I didn't even know him, or know his name, but I wanted someone to keep helping me out... But I guess that's the risk out here. It all made sense to me now, with the graffiti in the tunnels, the wanting to overthrow BL/ind. Just wanting to live life the way you wanted to without being told what to do. They way things used to be. It all made sense now. I zipped up his body bag along with Old Man's and blew a kiss at them all and turned away.

I started to walk away from the motel, but then I heard a static, white noise coming from inside. I then remembered that small, handheld walkie-talkie that was in that room with me while I was hiding. I ran around the side of the building and jumped through the window and landed on the ground with a thud. I picked up the tiny thing, just a tad bigger than the palm of my hand. It sounded like there was some sort of transmission trying to come through. I gave the little knob on the top a twist in different directions until I heard a bold voiced man over the little speaker:

"Good evening all you tumbleweeds and desert rats! This is Dr. Death Defying here with your evening bad news report. Looks like the Motel safehouse is no longer "safe." Old Man and his crew had themselves a fiesta down there with some Exterminators that went all Costa Rica. Everyone there got themselves ghosted in a firefight down on Route Guano. If you're in the area I suggest you move further out until things get cleaned up and keep your boot straps tight, upthrust the volume and your gun close. But for now, the lights are out and and the party's over and it's time for me: Doctor D, to start running and say goodbye, for a little while. And I know you're gonna miss me so I'll leave you with this: You know that big ball of radiation we call the sun? Well it'll burst you into flames if you stay in one place too long. That is, if the static don't get you first. So remember: even if you're dusted, you may be gone, but out here in the desert your shadow lives on without you. This is Dr. Death Defying signing off."

Then there was dead air over the radio and I stuffed it in my bag. I didn't want to turn it off in case another report came through, I didn't want to miss it. I wasn't sure if this guy was trustable, but the info and speech was great, so I liked it. Killjoy. That's who I am now. In a sense, it felt thrilling. I smirked as I pulled an e-cig out of my bag and took a drag. It was a peach flavor and tasted smooth, just the way I like it.

I drifted out of the room and down the hallway into the main lobby once again. I stepped over the glass case and picked up a couple more bottles of water and pouches of food. I didn't know when I was going to eat or drink again so it was a good idea to stock up. I was about to walk out the door when my boot kicked something up out of the dust in the doorway. I picked it up and it was a plain black mask. I felt a lump in my throat as I realized that this was that guy's mask he gave up just to get me a bottle of water. I bit my lower lip and turned it over and saw on the inside, faded it had "Desert Rebel" written in Sharpie. I remembered that that's how he announced himself when we first got to the motel.

"Desert Rebel..." I said softly. I then choked back my emotions and put the mask on and looked out into the desert.

"This one's for you, guy. I'm going to live out my life for the both of us. I'll destroy Bli with my gun and my bare hands. I'm going to find my friends just to prove you wrong though, but at the same time I know you'll be proud. From here on out, life is going to be one big party and us Killjoys will be the hosts."

I walked out the door and towards the east, away from the motel, never looking back. I looked at the twilight sun, it being almost down now, and gave it a salute.

"When I see you in the afterlife, Desert Rebel: call me Party Phoenix."


End file.
